I think in the final and by average over the series she was the best dancer. I liked Louis more in the final than in the rest of the series and he was definitely better than Kimberley on the night. But I thought the shirtless thing was crass.

As I said though very pleased for Flavia who seems very unassuming.

I've mentioned it on another thread that I was prob more happy about Flavia winning than Louis winning. On the night I put my backing behind Kimberely or Dani (as it seemed absolutely pointless to even consider Denise in the equation). I even didn't bother to watch the final and went out in the end, because I knew Louis would win, even though I would have liked maybe Kimbers of Dani to sneak through to win. When I found out the result of Louis winning, the ony thing that I was pretty much stunned about was that Denise hadn't been elmiminated first. I felt happy for Denise in a way that she hadn't just been an extra number in the final, as she hadn't ended up to just be making up the numbers in a final and had maybe been shown some last minute appreciation just because it was the end. Denise, along with the other three had all worked hard during the show so it was for anyone to win, but, I think underneath it all Louis was always going to win, even though Denise (and sometimes Kimberely, depending on the dance) performed better than him. My housemates thought maybe people felt sorry for him that he just missed out on gold at the Olympics and give this to him as some consolation but, to me, no Strictly title I don't think would be consolation over a gold for what your whole career has been about, especially jst straight after the event had finished. Denise I reckon will be quite chuffed to have not been eliminated first, seeing as she was well odds on fav to go first. As for Flavia, so happy for her. It's not even that she's been in the show for a while now that makes me happy to see her win, it's just that this series she had to work so hard with Louis not just to teach him to dance but deal with him as a person as well. He seemed quite childlike at times with his behaviour and moody too, which I'm sure is in part to do with his ADAD, but prob part of his own personality as well, and I think I think probabably some of the time why they didn't look in tune with each other all the time is that is was quite tedious for both of them for different reasons. Overall I think Flavs done well, and, unlike some, I haven't had a major problem with her choreography but more a couple of the judges comments that seemed to be nip picking for the sake of it.

A Kimberely, Denise or Dani win would have made me smile more, but a Flavia win has not made me smile less. I thought Louis not wearing a shirt was unecessary too, but the producers (as do the wider media) still always presume that we girls (or gay guys) that like men to some degree want to see naked torsos moreso than the other important stuff. And sure, some do, but I'm certainly not in that category.

I don't think Louis being topless was tacky. It worked with the dance. It wasn't as if Louis was doing a ballroom dance or any dance which was at odds with being barechested. I'd hasten to add here that I did not vote for anyone - I would have been happy with any of them winning. I thought they were all deserving of a place in the final and the top 3 all performed well.

Unfortunately, there seems to be this odd idea that a topless male = votes. The problem with that argument is that it conveniently overlooks the simple fact that Louis never ended up in the bottom two during the competition. Meaning that he was getting shedloads of votes throughout the series, yet the only time he went topless was in the final. That suggests to me that he would have won anyway, regardless of the toplessness. He already had a strong fanbase and he managed to avoid the pitfalls that Denise fell into with monotonous regularity. That (and having a partner who did an amazing job of teaching him and bringing out the best in him) is what won it for him, not going topless!

Gymnastics always looks better with top off or a vest on.

Louis has been the posterboy for gymnastics since Bejing and he's been posing topless in magazines before and during Strictly (so he's not shy or unwilling in that sense). So while he hasn't had his top of until the final (which I was suprised at), we all (or maybe you didn't) knew already what he looks like with his top off and that he does know the selling point that his image has for whatever he does (as gymasts have the appeal with their physique as much as what they do). So argubly he had a fanbase well before Strictly that would not care one ditty if there was a better dancer than him on the night because they already liked him from what they saw and knew already. And in gymastics they do the routines with their vests ON, so he could have just had a vest top on that would have still shown his arm muscles off. In fairness to him it fit more with that dance than it did when Gavin Henson took his top off for a routine, that was just cringe, as well as Artem too this series (but I doubt anyone will agree with me there).

But we're not referring to gymnastics as a sport we're referring to a showdance in SCD which happened to feature some gymnastics.

I don't feel at all sad for Denise. To those in the dance industry it is glaringly obvious who was the best this year - in fact the best in any year, and she can be well satisfied with that.

That's not unique. Everyone has a fanbase before the show and those fans may choose to vote for them no matter what.

I don't agree, not all of them have a pre-Strictly fan base but can create one along the way. There is a difference between liking or not minding someone on Tv to being an actual fan of theirs (which is basically a supporter of them that goes beyond not minding them or midly liking them but investing some usually committed and longer type of interest in them). And not all of the celebs on this show have been 'real; celebs, so it's confusing to know how they would have had a fanbase in the first place in which Strictly thought they could appeal to. Some shows (in general) I think also like to put in people to try and cater for all types, or even create fanbases for something (if there is a programme agenda), and so you'll get some odd inclusions in there that baffles alot of people but, through the show, they can enlighten people about who or what they do (which wasn't all that known in the first place). So I personally don't believe all the (so called) celebs that come onto this show (or others of this type too) necessarily have a fanbase, but can come onto this shown as known and not minded (or even felt indifferently about) and can win people over during the course of the show.

I doubt Louis had much of a fan base until he did his first dance. Gymnastics is only a filler sport at the Olympics. It's mostly subjective being judged unlike track and field and for the UK cycling.

Agreed. I'm not an expert, but I thought she was the best, and she could finish the series with her head held high.

I think the BBC set out to ensure he had a fan base as soon as he began to compete, and that that fan base was maintained. I think the whole series was carefully scripted to that end.

Filler sports? The grace, power and beauty of gymnastics as the filler sport? Wasn't that more beach volley ball that only came into the Olymics schedule in recent years? I thought gymnastics was one of the oldest and more closely aligned sports to the Olympics in terms of root sports there was, and legends like Olga Corbet and Nadia have certainly made it more appealing in the years during and after them. I don't know know anyone that doesn't like watching gymastics and marvelling at some of the things they do.

What about Kimberley ? the BBC promoted and favoured her even more imo.

I think that was scripted as well. They carefully kept just enough of the spotlight on Louis to maintain public interest, but he was always going to complete his "journey" during the final, when it mattered. If that involved promoting other contestants along the way, that's what happened,

I don't for one it isn't a lot different to P.T. in the Army albeit at a much higher standard. I couldn't give you the names of anybody who won an Olympic medal in Gymnastics apart from Louis Smith . They just don't have the same impact as Bolt or Farah or British domination of cycling. For the record I've no idea who got medals in Beach Volleyball either.

Maybe I should have said most instead of everyone Still I think many do. Of course some will have stronger ones (Harry and Kimberley for example)

I'm with you OP in being happier for Flavia than Louis. Not that I wasn't happy for Louis but it really seemed like it meant a lot to Flavia.

You don't need to feel sorry for Denise though, I think she did herself proud in the final and really managed to turn it around with the public support. To finish ahead of a popular pairing like Dani and Vincent was a real achievement given the nastiness that's been thrown her way from the media, forums and social media. She did one of the most spectacular showdances in Strictly history and finished the show on a real high.

One thing that was noticeable was how many one off TV shows and adverts he's been in, I think that careful management goes beyond and includes SCD.

Lol - tickets for the gymnastics were much harder to come by at the London Olympics than all the other sports save cycling! It's a very popular spectator event.

A life as a top-class gynmast is very time limited. At 23 he has a catalogue of injuries and all other top gymnasts are the same. Financially he has to make hay while he can - I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't go to Rio. Hence the need for careful management now, while his earning potential is at it's greatest.

Too right cats, I applaud Louis and those around him for just this strategy for his benefit, best promoted contestant in a long time.

Not so sure I agree. To me Kimberly seemed to be the loved up one this year.

I'd like to be clear I don't think he won because he went topless. I just thought it was tacky.

Why be sad for Denise when she reached the final three? That was an achievement in itself.